What is Alcmtr.exe

File description

Alcmtr.exe with description Alcmtr is a process file from company Realtek Semiconductor Corp. belonging to product Realtek AC97 Audio - Event Monitor.
The file is
digitally signed from Realtek Semiconductor Corp - VeriSign Time Stamping Services Signer - G2
We do not recommend removing digitally signed files from Realtek Semiconductor Corp

What is alcmtr.exe?
This is the Realtek AC97 audio hardware monitoring service. The purpose of this process is to monitor the usage of your Realtek integrated audio device.

This process is not essential to the proper operation of the system. It should not be deleted, however, as it may prevent proper updating of the driver in the future. As this process monitors your usage of your Realtek audio device for marketing research purposes, you may wish to disable the service in services.msc or msconfig. Your audio drivers should continue to function properly with the process disabled.

Dangers of alcmtr
As this is the name of a legitimate system process, it is possible for virus writers and spyware vendors to disguise their malware as the genuine one.

Some malicious files will have the same name but will be stored somewhere other than in %SystemRoot%\System32. Other malware will use a name that appears similar to that of the legitimate one but with slight differences in spelling or with appended digits. While there are currently no known viruses, Trojans, or adware applications that disguise themselves as this process, you should look out for the presence of this file in an incorrect location or with a slightly different name.

There is typically only one instance of alcmtr.exe running at a given time on a system. The presence of multiple instances may be an indicator of a malware infection. If you do not have a Realtek audio device, the presence of this executable is a likely sign of a virus infection..

Common problems

This process uses 100% of the CPU

If you encounter this problem, it is recommended that you ensure that your audio drivers are up-to-date. If they are, reinstall them.

If the problem persists, you should be able to safely disable the service.